“It’s tough having heroes. It’s the hardest thing in the world. It’s harder than being a hero. Hero-worshippers (fans) must live with the continually confirmed dread of hero-slippage and humiliating personal compromises in your standard and plain good sense about, oh, two to three weeks after the elpee masterwork first hits our turntables.”

Last night my insomnia woke me up just in time to catch the re-run for Project Runway’s season finale. One of these days Bravo had a PR’s marathon and I was able to get to know the designers and their, let’s say, interesting personalities and styles.

Jerell and Leanne were my favorites from the start. Kenley had her thing going and it was a little sad to see her overly obnoxious character destroy whatever compliments you had for her pieces. Suede and Stella were a joke. I liked Blayne‘s and Korto‘s creations a lot, but not enough to cheer for them until the end.

I missed the episode before the final fashion show, so I was surprised by Jerell’s absence in the finale. The guy had class and taste in every garment and I thought that maybe he should be in Kenley’s place, but oh well.

Leanne‘s collection was amazing and she deserved to win. A little peek:

In other related news, a movie about Vivienne Westwood’s life is about to come up. Kate Winslet is set to portray the designer that, back in the late 70’s, decided that plaid skirts, pins and leather jackets would forever symbolize the punk rock generation.

Okay. So I am finally up after a night of singing-along and line dancing at the Paradise. Alright, I’m kidding. There was no line dancing, but there sure was a lot of Garth Brooks, “Thunder Rolls”, “Friends in Low Places” and such in the background before the show even started.

Now, if you live in Boston and go to concerts every now and then you know: people here don’t dance, don’t sing, don’t smile. It’s crazy to me, being from Brazil and all, that you would go to your favorite band’s show and wouldn’t want to, at least, smile. But yeah, that seems to be the standard indie audience behavior, specially if your ticket reads Museum of Fine Arts. Then my friend, you’re in for a great silent trip. Don’t dare showing emotions or else the next bearded guy will give you the look. You know. The Look.

against all Boston’s odds, people sang along

But good Lord, y’all, last night was different. A multi-colored plaid shirt-wearing, cowboy boot-strutting group of people sold-out the Paradise and made it feel like home. Don’t be fooled by the appearances though: you could still recognize the good ol’ Berklee student, with his black-framed Wayfarer-type reading glasses. Even the bearded guy was there. A little shy, in the back, drinking a PBR and trying to hide his copy of “How Ya Lookin’ Southbound?” in his back pocket.

Ben Kweller immersed himself in his true roots when writing his new stuff. On “Somehow”, the last and in my opinion most beautiful song in the EP, he says: “I got lost somewhere along the way / Oh, NYC is killing me”. The New York years definitely helped him build an identity as an artist, being influenced by friends from Ben Folds and Evan Dando to Albert Hammond Jr, opening for huge deal bands such as Death Cab and My Morning Jacket and leading him into the ultimate singer/songwriter growing move: the writing and recording of a whole album by himself: “Ben Kweller”.

Now, if the storm of influences fogged out young Kweller’s creative self, only time will tell. Critics were never too kind with the work he put out, but always made us hopeful that one day we could wake up to a grown-up artist who knew exactly where to go, and how to get there.

The release of the EP “How Ya Lookin’ Southbound? Comein..” marks the beginning of that trip. In the back of a truck, the destination was Austin, Texas, and the radio played Neil Young and yeah, Garth Brooks.

“eeeeha!”

Out of all Ben Kweller’s concerts I’ve ever seen last night’s was, by far, the best. The whole idea of bringing back his country roots to stage made complete sense and songs like “On My Way” and “Sundress” seemed to have always been written for the pedal steel. The setlist was a mix of all albums. He opened with “Fight” and closed with “Lizzy”. Strummed that guitar like no one else in “Penny On a Train Track” and “The Rules”. Kweller made people whisper along to “Thirteen” and yell “pa-pa-pa-pa” on “Falling” when he sat at the piano. Willie Mason’s “Waiter at the Station” is also a big part of the show. At this point, his fans made sure they knew the lyrics to that one, too.

Mr. Rich Hinman, pedal steel virtuoso.

At the end, Ben Kweller repeated once more how much he loves Boston and how meaningful the city is to him: this is where he met Liz ten years ago. With his family in the audience, he thanked and thanked and thanked the fans, who yelled back: “We love Dorian!”, his two-year old son, wearing gigantic ear muffs, watched the concert on his mom’s lap.

Looking forward to the January release of “Changing Horses”, that’s for sure.

After a whole weekend of cool but sunny weather, Topsfield Fair-going, apple picking and cider drinking, I’m sure I touched every Fall base available. Include terrible allergy attacks provided by petting zoos in the list – even that felt good after all.

The other day I explored our CD collection in search of tracks that would mach the season during my Commuter Rail rides to Boston. The result was a mix of Neil Young and The Kinks with newer bands, like the ultimate candidates for best album of ’08, the Fleet Foxes. I also shopped around Hype Machine in search of even newer stuff and realized I had missed Jenny Lewis’ newest solo album’s release, and downloaded a couple of tracks to sense where the girlie girl was headed this time.

pick your own apple

Turns out that Acid Tongue sounded better than I expected and I eventually found myself driving up to New Hampshire, Applecrest-bound, wrapped in the singer’s tunes. The album, as you Rilo Kiley fan would expect, has that witty aura that Lewis drags around as part of her vintage wardrobe. Besides the fact that she doesn’t mind telling you how she felt about that acid trip, Jenny doesn’t let her ultra-feminine side drop for a minute. The result is a charming, full of personality, soul-filled disc with hints of country here and there. Just in time for that plaid shirt trend to settle in.

For their October It Girl issue, Nylon Magazine picked Zooey Deschanel to illustrate their cover (who else!?). In the article, the actress-turned-singer – who also collaborates in Acid Tongue – reveals her admiration for Jenny’s work:

Jenny has such a magical amazing voice. It’s just beautiful. Everything she does has a golden touch

Call me naive, but I really only linked both girls when I read that interview. It all made sense when I saw them connected though. Unconsciously they probably always shared the same class of women living in my head: the smart, high-waisted skirt lovers, music inspired, It Girls.